With the number of internet-connected devices like smartphones, smart watches and tablets set to average 4.3 devices per person worldwide by 2020, scalability is enabling dramatic improvements to display technology. Screens of the future will be thinner, lighter, and even bendable, while the race to acquire top talent and expertise in display technology becomes increasingly competitive.

One of the most prominent of the emerging display technologies is Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED). Unlike Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) technology, OLED technology does not require a backlight, and with fewer components, it consumes less power and is cheaper to produce. The mobile phone is the largest applied OLED display technology market, representing three quarters of OLED panels, according to market analysts. The world's leading producer of smartphones, Samsung, has already begun transitioning its phones to OLED technology. With LG and Apple not far behind, the global OLED market is expected to more than double—from $13 billion in 2015 to over $30 billion by 2020. But while the world's OLED panel manufacturing hub remains firmly planted in South Korea, much of the critical talent and expertise required is supplied by a small innovative firm based out of Waterloo, Ontario.

Waterloo's IGNIS Innovation brings critical know-how to LG Display

"Our team is excited to have LG Display, a global leader and innovator when it comes to OLED displays, as a partner," said IGNIS Innovation Inc's Peter Monsberger in a release. "I am sure that the collaboration between the two companies will contribute to further expanding the rapidly growing OLED display market," he added. Monsberger is the CEO of IGNIS Innovation, a company that has spent more than 10 years developing emissive display technology crucial to today's OLED applications, including televisions, smartphones, virtual reality, automotive and next generation printing.

Soon after the announcement, IGNIS Innovation's President and Chief Technology Officer, Reza Chaji, sat down with Communitech News to explain the value his company brings to LG Display. "While most companies were focusing on improving material, improving the backplane, our approach was, can we solve these issues externally with software algorithms and electronics? Therefore, we developed some key IP in the field that gives us an advantage over others, and also the know-how that the team has developed," Chaji told Communitech's Anthony Reinhart.

IGNIS is a spin off from the University of Waterloo and continues engagement with them through collaborative research activities, as the company considers access to top talent straight from its own backyard a tremendous asset. "At IGNIS, we have on average four to five co-op students every semester and a few of them end up working for IGNIS after graduation," says Ignis' Vice President of Operations, Joe Acchione. "In general, the Waterloo area is a very fertile ground for technology start-ups and the recent activities in the region highlight this fact."